Happy Thanksmas!

Yesterday we celebrated thanksmas with the Baxter three. We have a meal, exchange gifts and hang out in our pajamas all day.

There were 2 new thanksmas members this year which made it all the more fun! The dudes had a weapon theme going on so during naptime the adults went out and tried out the crossbow and the ninja sword.

 Game face on!

 We had fun splitting apples

Movember

Movember is underway. Chris and his coworkers and friends have a team to raise $ for prostate cancer awareness. They start bare faced and grow stashes the whole month of November. 

Here is a great TED talk on the topic by the creator: http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_garone_healthier_men_one_moustache_at_a_time.html 

And Chris's team website: 

http://mobro.co/chrisbritton79

Gotta say I'm not a fan of the look, but it's just a month and for a good cause.

Baby Bliss continues

We are loving life!! This weather is amazing, and being home together is the best thing ever!

Ara continues to meet new people. We are still mostly homebound but making little trips out here and there. I've yet to take both kids on a solo excursion other than Owens speech therapy. 

I've got little miss sleeping on me right now. For the most part she does pretty well at night, usually a couple 3 hour stretches, sometimes a 4 hour, and sometimes 1-2 hours.

Breastfeeding is going well, she is growing. After obsessively weighing Owen, our pediatrician recommended I put the scale away, jokingly saying I would get the shakes from withdrawals. He is right! I have weighed her once, about a week ago, and she was 9#12 oz, regained birth weight plus 6 oz. 

It's just a but challenging to trust the process when all we know is so different. We didn't know any better with Owen, that may have made it easier in a weird way.

I'll attach a few pictures I've taken the. Last week. 

Ara, Zoey, & Owen 

Great Grammy- a special visit!

Crazy we have 2 loves!

The dogs are hanging in there!

We let Owen hold her every day. Heartwarming!!

UCSF Toy & Supply Drive

We have started collecting donations for our annual toy and supply drive for the child life program at UCSF.

Owen has had a heart cath, a cardiac MRI, and 2 heart surgeries at Ucsf, and we will head there this spring for another cath and his next surgery. 

We will likely mail the donations unless we can line up a family member to drive them down... Things are a little busy around here these days:).

Here is the wish list:

Child Life Services

A hospital stay can be a challenging and unfamiliar experience for children and their families.  

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Child Life Services creates opportunities for children, teens and families to play, learn, and discover every day at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital.

Thank you for your generosity in supporting these programs.

 

Toy Donation Guidelines​​​​​​​​​​​​  

These guidelines help to ensure donations are appropriate and safe for hospitalized children. Please follow these guidelines when selecting items for donation.

•

Because of infection control issues, toys must be new.

•

Please do not wrap gifts.

•

No weapons or violent games of any kind, please.

•

Please make sure that glue, paint, markers or crayons are non-toxic.

•

No latex balloons.

•

Limited need for stuffed animals.

 

Items of Greatest Need​​​​​​​​​​​​

 Infant Items	 Teen Items	 Interactive toys/ art kits
 Light spinners	 Batteries (C & D)

 

Infant Items​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 Nesting Cups	 Teething rings	 Plastic rattles
 Crib mirrors	 White noise machines	 Plastic crib mobiles
 Interactive noise & light toys	 Board books	 Links
 Sock & wrist rattles	 Baby clothes	 Fisher Price soothers
 Musical toys	 Blocks & soft balls	 Water and bath toys
 Sassy Baby rattles	 Fisher Price mobiles

 

Toddler & School Age Items​​​​​​​​​​​

 Electronic push button toys	 Plastic dolls (multicultural)	 Fisher Price doctor kits
 Small cars & trucks (hot-wheels)	 Play-doh & play-doh kits	 Craft kits
 Barbies (clothes & accessories)	 Thomas Trains​	 Legos & lego kits
 Interactive toys for toddlers	 Pop up toys	 Musical toys
 Musical instruments	 Little People	 Action figures (no guns)
 Brio and plastic train cars	 Board Games	 Cartoon character toys
 Plastic play food	 Dora and Diego toys	 My Little Ponies
 Animals & Dinosaurs (plastic)	 Stickers	 Books that make noise
 Weebles toys	 Puzzles (24 to 100 pieces)	 Travel games
 Transformers	 Medium sized toy cars	 Little Tykes toys

 

 

Teen Items​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 Gift cards (Target, Amazon, Best Buy)	 Art & bead kits	 Journals
 I-tunes cards	 Backpacks	 Make-up sets
 Movie passes	 Blank CD-Rs	 Headphones
 Baseball hats	 Teen board games/cards	 DVDs
 Video games (Rated T Wii or PS3)	 Sports balls/gift cards	 Giants/A’s/49ers gear
 Individual acrylic paint sets	 Metal water bottles	 Teen male t-shirts
 Perfume/cologne	 Jewelry/Acessories/Watches

 

Creative Arts Items​​​​​​​​​​​​

 Drawing pads	 Michael’s gift cards	 Modeling clay
 Individual paint sets	 Drawing pads	 Small portable music stands
 Beginner music instr. Books	 Guitar picks	 Glue (tacky, mod podge)
 Paint by number kits	 Stickers	 Scrapbooking stickers (baby)

 

Games & Electronics​​​​​​​​​​​​

 CDs (children/teen music)	 CD players	 Batteries (C & AA)
 Sony Playstation 3	 E & E10 Games for PS3	 PS3 controllers & USB cords
 X-Box 360 Console	 E & E10 Games for X-Box 360	 I-pads

 

Parent/Family Support Items​​​​​​​​​​​

 Journals	 Gum, Mints
 Magazines or subscriptions (US Weekly, People, Spanish)	 Journals & pens
 Wrapped candy, snacks & bottled water​​​	 Water Bottles
 Stamps, envelopes & stationery​​​​	 Crossword/Sudoku puzzles
 Toiletries: razors, toothpaste, nail clippers, hairbrushes​	 Starbucks Gift Cards ($5)
 Individually wrapped snacks (popcorn, granola bars, etc.)	 Massage knobs
 Chap stick	 Ear plugs
 $5 Subway Cards	 Eye masks
 Kleenex	 Neck rolls
 Slipper socks	 Panda Express Gift Cards
 Hand Sanitizer	 Gas cards

 

 

 

Thank you for your interest in supporting the children, teens, and families at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital.

You can contact me via Facebook or Email or comments on here:

Chelsea.britton@yahoo.com